19
Aurielo
I didn’t plan on going to the hospital to have a word with Karina. But after Giovan suggested what I already feared, I had to see her. It couldn’t wait until tonight.
It would be easy to sneak a DNA test, hide it from Karina, and find out the truth.
But I’m not a man to do things behind someone’s back.
If Ashton is mine, she owes me the truth.
If he’s not, then I want to know who the father is and why he isn’t in their life.
What type of man abandons his son?
My questions quickly turn to an interrogation. My methods aren’t cruel or unkind, and I refrain from trapping her against the wall physically, but my eyes pin her.
She’s shivering as she speaks, her body betraying her.
“Are you really going to lie to my face, Micetta?”
Her bottom lip trembles as she speaks, her voice barely above a whisper. “You’re a monster. I don’t want my son to become like you.”
How can she forget what I did for her?
“This monster saved your life. Don’t you ever forget that, Micetta.”
I can’t stand to be around her. I storm out of the breakroom and down the hallway. I’m trying to be quiet and not bring more attention to myself, but it’s impossible as my footfalls pound the floor.
She lied to me.
Karina had every opportunity to deny my questions, claim I’m crazy, and that Ashton isn’t my child.
But that isn’t what happened.
I want to be wrong. And at the same time, knowing that the boy that will be coming home tonight after school is my child. It burns right through my very existence.
My legs burn, my feet are like fire against the ground. I want to run.
But my suit is suffocating.
I hurry down the hallway and hit the button for the elevator repeatedly. Not that it hurries the car any quicker, but it makes me feel better, like I’m doing something instead of standing around.
I step into the elevator and turn around.
Karina is staring back at me from across the open expanse of the hallway. Her eyes look distraught. Her bottom lip is curled like she’s trying not to cry.
I can’t comfort her.
Not now.
Maybe not ever.
She’s not mine.
Inside the elevator, I feel trapped. I’m relieved when the bell dings and the doors open. I hurry out and down to the lobby, catching sight of Francesco.
“Everything okay?” he asks.